Breath of Fire III Novelization
by Wild Knightblazer
Summary: [DISCONTINUED] My first fanfic, which is rather selfexplanatory. This died years ago, though, and it's not coming back.
1. Prologue

Breath of Fire III Novel

Breath of Fire III Novel

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Breath of Fire III characters-although I wish I did. Tell me, what is cooler than a game where the main character turns into a dragon?

Author's Note: This is my first fanfic, so go easy on me. I will give everyone a warning-if I receive a truckload of flames, then I'm taking this off FF.net, no questions asked. Hope you enjoy it!

Prologue

The two miners looked at their discovery. It was amazing-they had found a dragon immobilized in chrysm. They rigged up explosives to the chrysm to blast out the dragon.

"Okay, the explosives are ready," said Mogu.

"Great," said Gary. "Let's blow this." He and Mogu stepped back. Gary pulled the switch, then ducked.

_BOOM!_

The top half of the chrysm prison exploded. The dragon was on his back.

Suddenly, he stood up.

"Agh!" yelled Mogu. "It's still alive!"

The dragon glared at the two workers. His eyes began to glow red.

"Um…I think he's angry at us," said Gary.

That was confirmed as the small dragon suddenly roared and unleashed a wave of fire upon the two miners.

"ARGH!" they yelled as the flame spread throughout their bodies.

When the wave dissipated, the miners laid on the ground, either dead or near it. The dragon cried out again, then leaped from the remains of its prison. He was confused.

_How did I end up here? Where _is _here?_ Those two sentences rang through his mind. He wanted to know the answers.

As it walked through the mine, it noticed that everyone it came upon dove for cover, yelling "DRAGON!" Suddenly, two miners came up. They were holding pickaxes.

"I'm not afraid of that! C'mon, let's get it!" The miners charged at the dragon.

Again, the dragon inhaled, gaining some energy.

"…Uh-oh…"

_FWOOSH! The wave of fire spread from the dragon's mouth again. And again, they were lying on the ground, either dead or near it._

The dragon walked through another doorway. He saw a human at a control panel, shivering at the sight of him.

Suddenly, a bull-like man walked onto the scene. "A dragon…I'm gonna take it out!"

The dragon prepared to breath the wave of fire. Just as he was about to throw it-

"NO! DON'T!"

The dragon halted, confused. _Who said that? he thought. He looked around, trying to find the source of the voice._

Suddenly-

_BAM!_

The dragon fell to the ground, unconscious. The crane operator sighed in relief.

They put the dragon in a cage and loaded it onto a trolley. One of the men volunteered to drive the dragon far away. He was accepted and he started driving away.

The dragon woke up in the cage. He twisted his head, trying to see where he was. He soon realized he was in a cage.

He had to do something, his mind said. _Break out!_ it kept screaming.

The dragon decided to comply and slammed against the bars.

"Hey, quiet down back there!" yelled the driver.

The dragon rammed the cage again…and again…and again…and-

Suddenly the cage fell off the trolley and broke apart. The dragon tumbled down a hill, slamming into a tree at the bottom.

As the dragon slipped into unconsciousness again, it started to glow white. When the glow disappeared…there was no dragon…just a little boy.

**End of Prologue-Chapter 1 coming soon!**


	2. Chapter 1: Rei's Discovery

Breath of Fire III Novel-Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Here we go again. I do not own any BOF III characters, or scenery, or stuff like that. You happy now?

To Kaiser the Black Dragon: I would take your advice if I could, but I don't even own BOF III-my friend let me borrow the game till I beat it.

Chapter 1 

As a small animal walked by, it was unaware that something was watching it from the bushes.

The something quietly drew two daggers from his side.

_BAM!_

There was a loud impact somewhere nearby and the animal ran off, scared.

"Dammit!" The guy stood up, revealing that he seemed to be a hybrid of a tiger and a human. "Who scared off my dinner?"

He turned to the source of the noise-and found two wolves barking at a small, blue-haired boy. The boy hadn't a single strip of clothing.

The guy raised an eyebrow. He walked towards the wolves.

"Yo!" He drew his daggers and slammed them into the wolves, killing them. "That's what you get for scaring off my dinner!"

He sheathed the daggers and looked down at the boy. The boy was shivering madly.

"You're lucky those currs hadn't chewed you to bits, kid." He turned away. "I'd take you home if I could, but I don't have enough food to feed ya."

He started to walk away-when he heard a small voice.

"M-mommy?"

The guy turned around and looked at the kid again. _Man, sometimes I really hate having a conscience,_ he thought. "All right, all right." He walked over to the kid and kneeled. "Uncle Rei'll take you home. Don't worry."

Rei hoisted the kid onto his back, holding him with his tail. _This is odd…why does this kid have no clothes? Heck, what's he doing out in the woods to begin with?_ He shrugged. _Hope he'll be able to answer those questions._

With that, Rei began walking towards his small cabin in the Cedar Woods.

In Rei's cabin, a small, purple-headed boy was waiting at the table in the main room. Finally, the door opened and Rei came in, carrying something on his back.

"Yo, Rei!" said the boy. "Hey, what's that? Is that dinner?"

Rei shook his head. "You're always thinking with your stomach, aren't you Teepo?"

Teepo grinned and said no reply.

"This is just a kid I found out in the woods. C'mon, let's get him into your bed."

Teepo considered saying something like _"My_ bed?! Why _my_ bed?!" but decided against it. He followed Rei up to his bedroom.

Rei slipped the boy under the covers. He stepped back and looked at him for a while.

"So, where'd he come from?" asked Teepo.

"Dunno," answered Rei. "I told you, I just found him out in the woods."

Teepo followed Rei's gaze, looking at the kid resting in his bed. "Kinda sounds like what happened with me, eh?"

Rei only nodded. After a few more minutes he turned and walked down the stairs.

Teepo stayed up there for a bit longer. "He was abandoned…just like me." After a few more minutes, Teepo got up and followed Rei downstairs.

The boy twisted and turned. He knew he was dreaming, but he could not seem to wake up.

An older person with violet-colored hair was staring down at him. "Don't you see, Ryu?" he said. He raised his arm. "They're weak. Pitiful and pathetic! They use our powers for their own selfish ends!"

Suddenly he disappeared.

He was replaced with a woman wearing a pink gown. She appeared to have wings.

"Ryu…" she said. "My…Ryu…"

Suddenly, the boy sat up in bed, finally awakening from his dream.

_What was that all about?_ he thought. He remembered nothing at all. His earliest memories were the dream he just had and of someone carrying him. And all he knew now was that his name was Ryu. 

Ryu slid out of bed. Hopefully, he'd be able to find some answers soon.

End of Chapter 1-Chapter 2 (hopefully) coming soon! 


	3. Chapter 2: A Day in the Lives of Thieves

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Do I really have to do this every chapter? Oh all right…I DO NOT OWN BOF III CHARACTERS, SCENERY, OR ANYTHING! There, you happy now?

And now…

Chapter 2-A Day in the Lives of Thieves 

Ryu walked out of the cabin he was in, still in his pajamas. He had raided the cabin a bit, but found no clothes.

He walked down a path, looking around. _Where is there to go?_ he wondered. Suddenly, a green goblin and a pink one jumped out of some bushes.

Ryu started, falling back a bit.

The pink goblin yelled out something and pointed at Ryu.

"Yes sir!" said the green one, and started to move towards Ryu.

Ryu was petrified-but thankfully, not for long. As soon as he regained his senses he took off as fast as he could.

Finally, he made it out of the forest. He had seemed to lose the goblins, but he didn't want to take any chances and sped down towards a village in the distance.

He stopped at the entrance to the village and looked down at his pajamas._ Okay, so maybe I'm gonna look a little weird…_He shrugged. _I'll have to live with it._

He walked through the gates to the village-and immediately heard a crashing noise.

_What was that?_ Ryu turned to his right and saw a purple-haired boy run out of a house as fast as his legs could take him. He was followed by a tall boy who seemed to be half-tiger. The two boys collapsed onto the path in front of Ryu.

"No use, Teepo," said the half-tiger. "The townspeople are all on the lookout for us."

"I'm not surprised," said the purple-haired boy. Ryu now knew his name was Teepo. "What with the bad harvest and all-what?"

Teepo had finally noticed Ryu staring at them.

"Hey, Rei, look at this! He's up!"

Rei looked up. He gave a little noise of appreciation. "Must be pretty good to get all the way here from the cabin."

Ryu looked confused. "Do…do you two own that cabin I was in?"

Rei nodded. "Yep." He then sighed. "This is gonna be tough-we got another mouth to feed and there's absolutely no chance the townspeople are gonna give us some food." He rolled his eyes upward in a "Why me?" gesture.

Again, Ryu was confused. "What's going on?"

"We'll tell you later," said Teepo. "But first, I think we oughta get you outta your pajamas."

Ryu looked down and smiled sheepishly. "Eh heh…"

"I'll go grab some clothes for him," said Rei and he walked down to the local weapon shop. Ryu and Teepo followed him.

"Don't worry, Ryu," said Teepo. "Rei'll get you fixed up with some armor in no time!"

Suddenly, he and Ryu stopped, realizing what Teepo just said.

"Wait…did I just call you Ryu?" said Teepo.

Ryu nodded.

"Is…that your name?"

Ryu nodded again.

Teepo raised an eyebrow. "Okay, that was strange. Why do I-"

_BAM!_

The door to the weapon shop opened up and Rei sped out, some clothes and a sword over his shoulder. "Run for it!" he yelled.

Ryu and Teepo complied and ran as fast as they could while the weapon shop owner cursed and threatened them.

A few minutes later, Ryu, Rei, and Teepo finally slowed down, gasping for air. Rei stood up first. "Well, at least we made it." He turned to Ryu. "Slip these clothes on," he said, tossing a pile of clothing to Ryu.

Ryu blinked as he caught the clothing. "Hey, this is armor, not clothing."

"Sorry. They don't have a clothes store in the village." Rei sighed and leaned against a tree.

As Ryu put on the clothes, Teepo told Rei of the fact that Teepo had called the boy "Ryu" without even knowing his name in the first place.

Rei raised an eyebrow. "That's strange, but I think it's nothing to worry about." He noticed Ryu had finished dressing.

"Oh yeah, got something else for ya." Rei dug around in his satchel and pulled out a foot-long sword. He held the blade and said, "Catch." He tossed it at Ryu, who grabbed its handle.

"Thought ya might need a weapon, too," said Rei.

"Cool!" said Ryu. He swung the sword around in practice swings.

_Hey, wait a minute, Ryu thought. __I've never used something like this in my life…yet this is so easy. What's up with that?_

Rei turned away from Ryu and Teepo and noticed a sign. It said "Yrall Road."

"Hmmm…Hey, Teepo," said Rei. "We're at the road. Think Ryu's up to the job?"

Teepo grinned. "Most likely. Yo, Ryu!"

Ryu stopped taking practice swings. "What?" he said.

"This is the Yrall Road," said Teepo. "A lot of people come by, and we…er…kinda…mug them."

Ryu's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Ah, don't worry," said Rei. "We never actually hurt anyone-just steal from 'em. That's not as bad as hurting them."

Ryu nodded like he understood, but he didn't really agree.

"So…anyway…" Teepo looked around. _Now what do we do? he thought. "Aha!"_

There was a large tree by the side of the road, and it was big enough to hide five people.

"Hey, guys, let's hide behind that tree!" said Teepo. "Then the first person to come by…wham!"

Rei shrugged. "All right." He ran behind the tree with Teepo behind him.

Ryu sighed. "Guess this is better than starving to death." He walked behind the tree.

After about a minute of waiting, a large man about seven feet tall walked down the road.

"Okay, Ryu, here's your chance!" said Teepo.

"Uh…why don't one of you guys go?" stammered Ryu.

"Nah, take a shot at it!" With that, Teepo grabbed Ryu and flung him into the man.

Ryu bounced off the man's arm and landed hard on the ground.

"Um…oops?" whispered Teepo. Rei looked at his face and could tell (probably because he had a grin that stretched from ear to ear) that he didn't really mean it.

The man looked down at Ryu. "What're you doin', kid?"

"Um…nothing. I tripped," Ryu said quickly.

"That didn't really feel like you tripped, kid," said the man. He looked at Ryu carefully. "Say, do I know ya from somewhere?"

"No, I don't think you know me," said Ryu.

The man laughed. "Sorry. You just looked like this criminal kid named Teepo."

_What? thought Ryu._

"By the way, if you see those fools Rei and Teepo sometime, tell 'em ol' Bunyan's gonna give 'em a pretty hard whack!" Bunyan laughed hoarsely and resumed his walk down the road.

Teepo and Rei walked down onto the road and Teepo kneeled down next to Ryu.

"Well, you were close," Teepo said, slapping him on the back.

Ryu rubbed his neck. "Whatever. I don't think I'm really the mugging type."

Suddenly Rei's eyes lit up. "Hey, wait a minute…Ryu, was that guy Bunyan?"

"Uh…yeah…"

Rei grinned. "Bunyan lives alone in the Cedar Woods. Maybe we could…oh, I don't know…nab a piece of food or two?"

"Yeah! All right!" said Teepo.

Ryu sweatdropped.

"Ah, come on, Ryu!" said Teepo. "It's not like we're gonna demolish his house or something!" He and Rei started to walk north. "C'mon!"

Ryu sighed. _I have a feeling I'm gonna regret this…He shook his head and ran after Rei and Teepo._

End of Chapter 2-Chapter 3 coming soon! 

Author's Note: If you know the story like the back of your hand, don't start flaming me because this is inaccurate, alright? If you do flame me, at least tell me what needs to be improved. Thanks!


	4. Chapter 3: Doing Some Actual Work

Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

Disclaimer: *sigh* You know, if I say I don't own BOF III for every chapter, then I'm gonna say I don't own it like 150 times! (Exaggeration) So this shall be the last time I say it-I DON'T OWN BREATH OF FIRE III!

Chapter 3-Doing Some Actual Work

Rei slammed his dagger into the face of a goblin, killing it. "Whew, that was close." He slapped his dagger back into the sheath at his side.

Teepo shook his head. "You know, I really hate those things." The goblin that was now dead had jumped, seemingly out of nowhere, onto Teepo just seconds before.

Rei and Teepo jumped up a small hill. At the top was a log cabin with piles of firewood outside the door.

"Hey, this is it!" said Teepo. He looked around. "Wait, where's Ryu?"

"Over here." Teepo turned to see Ryu on the other side of the cabin, panting. "I took the actual path up."

Rei shrugged. "Whatever. Come on." He hopped over the firewood and walked over to the door. It had a lock on it.

Rei placed his hand near the lock, and a claw eased its way out of his finger. With a quick swipe, the lock fell to the ground. Rei smiled, and, for the heck of it, he tossed it up into the air and quickly slashed it a lot.

In total, about 50,000 locks fell to the ground.

Rei grinned and crushed the remains of the lock. "That was fun." He kicked the door open and went inside.

Teepo shook his head. "You like making a point, don't you, Rei?" He ran inside.

Ryu hesitated a bit. He knew stealing was wrong…but from what he had heard from Rei and Teepo, they would die if they didn't. Making up his mind, he walked inside.

He saw Rei and Teepo already peeking in the cabinets, under the table, and a few other places. He took a few steps forward-and tripped, landing face first on the floor. It shook a plate off the table.

Quick as a flash, Teepo ran over and caught the plate. "Jeez, Ryu, you're gonna give us away! Be more careful a bit, will ya?"

Ryu sighed and rolled his eyes. "How can we give ourselves away if there's no one here?"

Teepo blinked. "Hm. Good point. But even so, be more careful." Teepo put the plate back on the table and continued raiding a closet.

Ryu shook his head and looked around. There was a hatch nearby that looked like the entrance to a basement. Intrigued, Ryu walked over, popped it open, and climbed down the ladder.

There was a cabinet in the corner.

Ryu raised an eyebrow. _Why would anyone have a cabinet in the basement?_ He walked over and opened it up.

Inside was a very delicious looking beef jerky.

Ryu widened his eyes. _First try, too!_ "Hey, I found some!" he yelled up the ladder.

Rei and Teepo jumped down and walked over to Ryu. Teepo noticed the beef jerky and started to drool.

Rei smiled. "Nice job, Ryu. Now let's-"

There was a thump above.

Rei got a look of horror on his face. "Great. That might be old man Bunyan. I'll go check." He climbed up the ladder.

Teepo and Ryu waited a bit-and suddenly heard something like a pounding.

Teepo raised an eyebrow. "I'm gonna see if he's all right, okay, Ryu?"

Ryu nodded, and Teepo ran over to the ladder and scurried up like a squirrel. About five seconds after that, Ryu heard the exact same noise he had heard after Rei went up.

He rolled his eyes. "Might as well check." He, too, climbed up the ladder-but noticed there was no one in the house. He heard someone talking outside.

Without thinking, Ryu walked outside the door, saw an enormous, gorilla-sized fist flying towards him, and he blacked out.

Ryu woke up to find he couldn't move his arms-they had been tied with a rope that extended around his body.

He looked to his left and noticed that Teepo and Rei were in the same condition as him.

"Ha ha!"

Ryu looked up to see Bunyan cracking his knuckles.

Ryu, Rei, and Teepo all simultaneously gulped.

"Heh! I thought I told this young feller here-" he pointed at Ryu, "that I'd give Rei and Teepo a pretty hard beating if I ever saw 'em again!" He laughed again. "Well, now I'll show you I'm a man o' my word!" He raised his fist.

Rei clenched his teeth. "Whoa, wait a minute. How about if you give us a chance?"

Bunyan stopped abruptly. "Chance? Give you a chance? Haven't we all been doin' that lately?"

"Just…just let us go and we won't bother you…" said Rei pathetically.

Bunyan seemed to consider this. Then he gave a hoarse laugh.

"Haw haw! All right, I'll let you three live. But, I've got some jobs fer the three o' you!"

"Jobs?" said Teepo.

Bunyan nodded. He walked over to Rei and kneeled. "Rei, you seem like a fine, strong young lad. How about if you go over to Mt. Glaus and…er, take care o' the problem there?"

_Problem?_ thought Ryu. _What kind of problem?_

Rei blinked. "That problem? Uh…well, I guess I could handle it."

"Good boy." Bunyan took one of Rei's daggers and sliced through the ropes holding Rei. Rei stood up and massaged his arm.

"Here ya go." Bunyan handed Rei the dagger. "Just don't get yerself hurt now, hear?"

"I hear." Rei turned and walked down the path.

"And as fer you two…" Bunyan said as he turned to Ryu and Teepo.

They gulped. Ryu had a feeling he wasn't going to like what Bunyan had in store for them.

It turned out it wasn't as bad as Ryu thought. All Bunyan wanted him and Teepo to do was to chop some firewood.

"All right, kid," said Bunyan. "You got a sword, right? And you know how to use it?"

Ryu nodded timidly.

"Well, Teepo here puts the firewood onta this stump, and Ryu cuts it. Careful, though-the firewood is unbalanced and will tip over in a second or two. And make sure you don't hit Teepo, hear?"

"Yeah." Ryu drew his sword.

"I'll check how many ya cut for twenty seconds. Ya get more than 20, you're home free. Ready, and…GO!"

Teepo slapped a piece of firewood onto the stump and as soon as he released it, it began to tip over. Ryu quickly sliced and it fell to the ground, cut in half.

Teepo put another firewood up and Ryu swung before Teepo released it. Fortunately, he didn't hit Teepo's hands.

After the third time, Ryu and Teepo got into the hang of it. Soon Teepo and Ryu were going so fast Bunyan could barely keep up.

Finally, Bunyan yelled, "STOP!"

Ryu and Teepo collapsed, breathing heavily.

Bunyan raised an eyebrow as he counted the pieces they had cut. There were over sixty on the ground. "Whew! Ya got more than 30, fer cryin' out loud!" He shrugged. "All right, you can go."

"Whoo-hoo!" yelled Teepo and jumped into the air.

Ryu looked at him strangely as he got up. Funny, Teepo had been lying on the ground just a second ago.

"Hey, Ryu, let's go after Rei!" said Teepo jubilantly. "Uh, where'd you say he was going, Bunyan?"

"Up to Mt. Glaus," said the lumberjack. _Heck, if they die there, it might save us a whole lot of trouble._

"All right! C'mon Ryu!" With that, the purple-haired boy took off like a bullet in the northern direction.

"H, hey!" yelled Ryu and ran after him.

Bunyan smiled. "Kids." He sat down where Teepo was standing and began to chop some firewood.

Teepo ran up the path to Mt. Glaus, humming a little tune along the way.

"Hey, Teepo! Wait up!"

Teepo stopped and started tapping his foot. Ryu finally caught up to him, out of breath.

"When'd you get so energetic?" asked Ryu.  
  
Teepo shrugged. "I dunno. C'mon, we're almost there!" He ran towards the mountain again.

  
Ryu sighed and ran after him.

Suddenly Ryu tripped, falling into Teepo, and they rolled along the ground for a long way, all the way to the foot of the mountain.

Ryu sat up. "Oops." He gave an innocent "I didn't do it!" look as Teepo got up and glared at him.

Teepo sighed and brushed himself off. "Well, look at the bright side, we're all the way to the mountain. Let's go help Rei!" He started running up the path, with Ryu in close pursuit.

End of Chapter 3 


	5. Chapter 4: The Monster of Mt. Glaus

Author's Note: You know, I'm starting to wonder why no one's been reviewing my story since SeaEZ reviewed Chapter 2

Author's Note: You know, I'm starting to wonder why not many people have been reviewing my story. Then again, Breath of Fire isn't exactly the most popular game in the world…but even so! I don't know if I said this before…wait, I actually haven't…so, anyway, please R&R. And, as always, please tell me what's wrong if you flame it.  Chapter 4-The Monster of Mt. Glaus 

Disclaimer: I know I said I wouldn't say I didn't own BOF III anymore, but there's something else in here. I do not own the quote Teepo says just before they fight the monster.

Ryu and Teepo collapsed, exhausted from climbing up a steep slope. They had also fought off a few currs, and that was what was causing most of their fatigue.

"Pant…wheeze…jeez, who's dumb idea was it to go after Rei anyway?" gasped Teepo.

"Yours," Ryu said simply.

Teepo blinked. "Oh. Right. I knew that."

Ryu rolled his eyes and stood up. Having caught his breath, he looked around.

After a few more seconds, Teepo also got up, and noticed something to the northeast.

"Hey, look! It's a bridge!"

Ryu looked at it. It was, indeed, a bridge, but what was more interesting was what it led to. On the other side of the gap the bridge was connecting were a cabin and a few crates.

"Why is there a cabin up here?" Ryu said.

Teepo shrugged. "I dunno. C'mon, it's almost dusk, maybe we could sleep there."

"Yeah, sure. I'm getting pretty tired."

Ryu and Teepo walked across the bridge and up to the cabin. Teepo silently pushed open the door, looking around for anyone inside.

"I think it's safe," he said to Ryu. He opened the door all the way and walked inside. Ryu followed him.

Suddenly, the cabin was lit up with a fire-in the fireplace. And standing next to the hearth was-

"Rei!"

Rei jerked his head up, staring at Ryu and Teepo. "When'd you guys get here? I thought Bunyan had you do something."

"He did," said Teepo. "He just made us cut logs."

"By the way, Rei," Ryu started. "What exactly _is_ the problem?"

Rei blinked at Ryu's question. "Uh…alright, I guess it's safe to tell. There's some monster that's been terrorizing the village lately-actually, stealing its food. That's the reason why the people are having such a bad harvest. I'm guessing Bunyan sent me up here to kill it, 'cause he knew that it lived up here."

Teepo grinned. "Can we help ya, Rei? Can we?"

Rei rubbed the back of his neck absentmindedly. "Well…I don't know…now that you're here, I won't be able to use…"

Ryu and Teepo looked up. "Use what?" Teepo said curiously.

"Uh…nothing. Forget it."  
  
Teepo crossed his arms. "All right, it's pretty obvious you're hiding something. What is it you won't be able to use?"

Rei rolled his eyes. "Forget it. Forget I ever mentioned it." He looked out the window. "'Sides, it's getting dark, and I know you two are tired, so I think we should have a rest-mind you, those monsters down below tired me out too…"

There was a single bed in the corner of the cabin. "Now, who gets the bed?" asked Ryu.

"We'll fight for it!" said Teepo excitedly.

"Forget it, Teeps," said Rei. "We're too tired as it is. How about we all just camp out on the floor?"

No one argued with that.

Ryu twisted and turned. He knew he was having another nightmare, but again, he could not wake up.

He saw two men, one seeming to be half-wolf, and the other a small mole, trying to kill him. He unleashed a breath of fire upon both of them…

And it happened again. Two other men charged at him, and he unleashed another wave of fire.

And a bull-like man charged towards him…and he prepared to unleash fire, when…

"NO! DON'T!"

Then something hit the side of his face…and…

"Ryu, wake up, dammit!"

Ryu's eyes snapped open. It was broad daylight outside, and it would have been peaceful had it not been for the earth-shaking roars occurring outside.

Teepo swung around his sword in practice swings. Rei sharpened his daggers, and sliced once.

"C'mon, Ryu! Get up! The monster's outside!" yelled Teepo.

Ryu immediately snapped to attention. He flipped onto his feet, grabbed the handle of his sword, and drew it out. He was shaking all over.

Rei looked at Ryu, who looked really nervous-the shaking gave it away.

Man, he could die in this fight…Rei thought. No wonder he's so afraid. He's like six for cryin' out loud. Around six years old and in a fight for his life…Rei smiled. Heh, guess I'd be scared too. He shook his head to clear the thoughts and sharpened his daggers once more.

"C'mon, let's go!" cried Teepo and busted open the front door of the cabin. He ran around-only to let out a blood-freezing scream.

Standing in front of him was a gorilla-like creature. It was down on all fours, but that wasn't what was scary. It had four tails, and they looked like snakes.

"Snakes…why'd it have to be snakes?" muttered Teepo. (Author's note: Yes, that is a direct reference to Indiana Jones.)

Ryu and Rei ran outside and noticed Teepo and the monster.

"So…it's a Nue," said Rei. He sharpened his daggers one more time, and then swung them in front of him, as a taunt.

Ryu was almost too scared to move. But eventually courage overcame fear and he waved his sword in front of his foe.

Teepo regained his senses and started charging up. A blue energy ball appeared in his left hand.

_What's that? Ryu thought._

Teepo then pointed at the Nue and yelled, "Frost!"

A bunch of meter-long icicles rose up behind Teepo, and flew at the Nue. They stabbed into the rough, furry skin of the monster, and it let out a roar of pain.

_Magic! Cool! Ryu smiled, and, on a show of courage he didn't even know he had, he charged forward and sliced the monster's face._

The Nue roared and swiped at him with its beach-ball-sized-but-much-more-damaging claw. The claw hit Ryu, flinging him back. He hit the ground, skidding to a stop near Rei and Teepo.

He immediately flipped back up, waving his sword tauntingly.

Rei let out a war cry as he jumped into the air. He landed on the Nue's back and swiped at its skin. It let out a cry and stomped hard to get him off.

Rei flipped off on his own and jumped back to the imaginary line he, Ryu, and Teepo had formed.

It was Teepo's turn now. Again, he charged up, but this time a red energy ball formed in his left hand, instead of a blue. And instead of Frost, he used…

"Flame!"

A fireball rose from his hand and slammed into the Nue's face. It cried out and shook its head, trying to rid itself of the burning sensation in its face. As soon as it did, it leaped into the air, landing on Ryu.

"AH!" yelled the boy as the 200-pound monster landed on him. (Author's note: Okay, so maybe it isn't 200 pounds. How would I know?)

As the Nue crawled off him, satisfied, Ryu felt his mind going blank…and the darkness…the darkness…

Suddenly, he felt a strange sort of warmth inside his body. It took him a moment to realize what it was…_magic._

_I can use magic too? Ryu thought. And then, he realized his magic was of the healing group…and the magic he knew now was…_

"Heal!" he cried out before he collapsed.

It was all he needed. Green lights circled the blue-haired boy, and he glowed white before jumping up again.

Rei smiled at him. "Great. We could use that!" His attention snapped back to the battle as the Nue leapt at him. Ducking under its attack, he rammed his dagger into the underbelly of the beast.

The Nue roared as Rei pulled the dagger out. It staggered back.

"Hey, I think we won!" said Teepo happily.

But the Nue was still standing. And after a long moment, during which it was debating on either continue attacking them or turn tail and haul butt, it decided to choose the latter and sped off towards a cave in the side of the mountain.

"Hey! Come back here! We ain't done with you yet!" Teepo ran after it, disappearing into the darkness of the cave.

Ryu looked at Rei. "Should we follow?"

Rei shrugged. "What do you think is better, death by monster or death by Bunyan?"

"Monster, definitely." Ryu laughed and sheathed his sword. "Come on!"  
  


He and Rei ran towards the cave, disappearing into the darkness.

There was a bit of light in the cave. The walls seemed to give off the light. It was faint, but Ryu and Rei could still see Teepo, who had for some reason stopped.

"Lost it," he muttered when he noticed Ryu and Rei. "Lost the monster. This cave's a big maze."

"Hey, look!" Rei knelt down. There were drips of blood on the floor. Rei tapped a small pool with his finger. It was still wet.

"Guess we could follow the trail," Rei said. "It'll lead us straight to it."

Teepo grinned. "Yeah, why not? C'mon!" He turned and ran deeper into the cave, following the red marks on the ground.

"He's a bit over-enthusiastic, isn't he?" asked Ryu.

"Yep. Let's follow." Ryu and Rei ran, looking down at the floor occasionally to make sure they were following the trail.

Suddenly, they walked into a large cavern.

"Whew!" whistled Rei. "You could fit a blimp in here!" He looked down at the ground. "Hey, wait…the blood's gone!"

"Yeah, I followed it all the way here," said Teepo, standing in a corner. "My guess is, it jumped into there." He jerked his thumb to the side.

Somehow Ryu and Rei hadn't noticed it when they had come in, but now they saw that there was a huge pool of water that was filled up with a waterfall. There was a ledge up near the top of the waterfall, and a dark place in the middle of it.

"Hey, that looks like an entrance!" said Ryu. "But how can we get there?"

Rei looked up at the ledge near the top of the waterfall. "I'm guessing we need to find a way up there."

"I'll go check it out!" said Teepo, and ran out of the cavern.

About five minutes later, Ryu and Rei heard, "Yo, guys! Up here!"

Ryu and Rei looked up at the ledge and noticed Teepo standing there.

"How'd you get there?" Rei called up.

"Follow the left wall after leaving this room! Leads you straight up here!" said Teepo.

Ryu shrugged, turned on his heel, and ran out of the cavern. Once outside of it, he placed his hand on the left wall, and started walking.

Rei mimicked him, also putting his hand on the wall, following Ryu up. They seemed to go into a bit of a spiral, and the more they went up, the darker it got.

Finally, when Ryu was on the point of seeing nothing but black, he saw white light emanating from a doorway.

"That must be it!" He ran through it, and sure enough, saw Teepo there.

Ryu rubbed his eyes. "Okay, this light's hard on my eyes. It's dark down there."  
  


"I know," said Rei as he walked up to them. "So, how exactly are we gonna reach that cave in the waterfall?"

"Hmm…" Teepo examined the waterfall for a minute or two. Finally, he shrugged and said. "We could jump, I guess. Jump into the water here, let it carry us to the cave, and get in when we have the chance."

"That could work," said Ryu. "Let's go!" He jumped into the water and it started carrying him towards the falls.

Rei shrugged. "He's done it, we might as well." He and Teepo jumped in at the same time and let the current carry them.

Ryu started to tumble down the falls as he reached the top.

_Keep a sense, Ryu, he thought. __Know where you're supposed to get off the waterfall-ah!_

At that point, he passed the cave he was aiming for.

_Great! Ryu somehow got out of his tumble and grabbed the side of the entrance to the cave just as it was about to slide out of reach._

_That was close. With all his strength, he pulled himself towards the opening, holding his breath and closing his eyes to protect himself from the water flowing down his face._

_Almost there…ah! He collapsed on the floor of the cave. He had made it._

Ryu lay there, on his side, gasping for breath. Each breath he took hurt his throat, but he didn't care, as long as he could breathe.

"Nice stunt, Ryu," said Teepo as he fell into the cave, Rei just behind him.

"What stunt?" Ryu sat up and shook like a dog, drying himself off.

"That stunt you pulled where you grabbed the cave just as you passed it," said Teepo, rolling his eyes like it was obvious.

"I wouldn't call that a stunt," said Ryu. "I'd say that was pure dumb luck."

"Yeah. Sure."

"Will you two shut up?" said Rei. "Personally, I hate water. Think it's a race habit."

Rei got down on all fours and shook himself like a dog, flinging water droplets everywhere.

One of the droplets flew into the blackness stretching before them.

The Nue snored peacefully, glad that it had managed to escape from the humans trying to kill it. Why were they trying to kill her anyway? She was only getting food for her babies. There was no crime against that, wasn't there?

Suddenly she awoke, a water droplet plopping onto her nose. Enraged at the fact that something had awakened her, she peered into the darkness. There were two human boys and a tall one with a tiger tail.

She frowned. It was those humans again. Well, she would just have to teach them another lesson.

With a roar that shook the mountain, she leapt forward.

Rei's head snapped up at the sound. It was so powerful that it knocked Ryu down on his butt.

"What was that?" Ryu asked rhetorically.

Rei's eyes widened. "Oh, s**t! Teepo! Ryu! _Get your heads down!"_

Teepo ducked, clutching the ground as if he would die if he let go. Ryu ducked and grabbed his head with his hands.

The Nue jumped right over them.

"It's back!" yelled Teepo as he jumped up and whipped out his katana.

Rei grabbed the daggers by his sides and unsheathed them. He twirled them around on his hands.

Ryu slowly got up, again, almost paralyzed with fright. He somehow managed to grab his sword and pull it out.

"Here we go again!" said Rei. "AHHH!" He let out a war cry and jumped at the Nue.

The Nue was extra angry this time, because of the fact that they had just waked her up. As Rei drew closer, she raised her right-front claw, curled it up like a fist, and punched Rei in the belly.

"OOF!" The wind was knocked out of Rei as the beach-ball-sized-but-much-more-damaging fist struck him. He fell back, rolling along the floor, finally coming to a stop as he slammed against the wall.

Ryu's eyes widened. What could he do? There was nothing he could do to help-his sword was nothing against the rough fur and skin of the Nue! But then, he remembered…

_I'm not just limited to physical abilities. He grabbed the blade of his sword, charging up. Then he pointed it at Rei and called out, "Heal!"_

Just as they had done before with Ryu, green lights circled Rei, and he glowed white before he flipped up and grabbed his daggers again.

"Thanks, Ryu!" Rei charged at the Nue again.

Ryu looked at the Nue, a plan slowly forming in his mind.

_Let's see, he thought, watching as Rei sliced at the Nue. __Hey, wait a second…he's aiming for the underbelly…that's it!_

"Teepo!"

"What?" yelled Teepo.

"I got an idea! Rei and I can knock it so that it's underbelly's exposed, and then you stab it with an icicle!"

"Got it!" Teepo held out his left hand, closed his eyes, and started charging up. A blue energy ball appeared in his hands.

Rei heard Ryu's plan, but it didn't seem to be working-the Nue weighed over 200 pounds, and it was extremely difficult to knock it hard enough for it to expose it's belly.

Ryu, however, didn't give up hope. He jumped onto the Nue's head, stabbing in a seemingly futile attempt at the skin.

The Nue roared and tried to fling Ryu off, but he held on with one hand and stabbed with the other. The Nue realized it could not fling off Ryu without standing up, so it stood up on its hind legs, roaring. The roar and the sudden vertical thrust made Ryu fall off.

By this time, Teepo had summoned a large icicle, three meters long this time.

"Now, Teepo! Fire at will!" yelled Rei.

"Right! Frost!"

Teepo thrust his hand out, and the icicle flew at the Nue.

The Nue realized it had been tricked at the last second-but it was too late. The icicle had already impaled it, but it didn't stop. Taking the Nue with it, the icicle flew into the wall and stuck there.

The Nue hung like a sacrifice to the gods.

Rei collapsed, panting like a dog.

"Hey…we…did…it…whew!" Rei let out a long breath.

Ryu rubbed the sore spot on his head where he had hit the ground when the Nue had flung him off. Teepo looked fatigued, kneeling on one knee, propping himself up with his katana, but Ryu couldn't blame him-the three-meter-long icicle must have taken a lot of energy to charge up.

Ryu suddenly noticed that the Nue was hanging next to a dark spot in the wall.

"Hey, look! It's a doorway!" Without thinking, Ryu rushed through it-and gasped at the sight inside.

In the small room he had run into were a large, straw-made nest and at least eight Nues lying around it. But judging by their size and faces, they looked like babies. And there was another factor…they didn't look as if they were breathing.

And there was another thing…they were surrounded by beef jerky, corn, apples, berries, and almost every kind of food that the people down in the village were growing.

At this point Teepo and Rei had run in, and had the exact same reaction as Ryu did.

Teepo blinked a bit, and finally let out a long breath. "Boy, looks like that Nue wasn't very smart, eh? It was feeding its babies without realizing they were dead!"

Ryu shot a glare at Teepo. Judging by what he had just said, Teepo sounded like he didn't care about the fact that he had just killed a mother.

Rei blinked, and Ryu suddenly noticed that there were tears streaming down his face.

"I don't think it cared that its babies were dead, Teepo," said Rei. "I think it was trying to feed them, no matter what happened…just like a true mother should." He shut his eyes tightly and lowered his head.

"Did we…do the right thing?" Ryu wondered quietly.

"I don't know…" whispered Rei. He let out a sigh. "I guess you could say we put her out of her misery."

"Hey, you think we could return all this to the village?" Teepo asked.  
  


Rei shrugged. "Guess we could."  
  
Teepo nodded. He grabbed a large bag from his pocket and started scooping the food into it.

Ryu and Rei stepped back and waited until Teepo was done. When the bag was full, Teepo tied it up, and slung it over his shoulder.

"C'mon, let's get out of here," he said.

"How?" asked Ryu.

"We could ride the current," Rei suggested.

"Yeah, why not? Let's go!" Teepo ran out of the cave, the bag full of food bouncing against his back.

Without another word, Ryu and Rei turned and walked out of the cave.

They rode the current to the bottom of Mt. Glaus. Climbing out of the river onto the bank, they shook themselves to dry, and Teepo confirmed that no food had been lost during the trip down.

And then they heard a voice.

"Aw haw haw! So, ya managed to kill the Nue, eh?"

Ryu, Rei, and Teepo whipped around to see Bunyan standing there, his arms crossed, a smile on his face.

Ryu growled. _How can he just stand there and laugh at the fact that we just killed a living being that was acting in self-defense? He's heartless!_

"An' I see ya got a bag o' food there," Bunyan continued, shooting a look at the large bag Teepo was holding. "Ya might as well return that to the village." Bunyan clapped his hands twice. "Good job, fellas." He turned and started to walk away.

"Wait a minute!" yelled Rei. "You knew that the Nue had babies, didn't you? Why'd you send us after her?!"

Bunyan stopped. "If you had known she was a mother…what would you have done? Would you have refrained from killing it?" He continued to walk away again until he was out of sight.

Ryu, Rei, and Teepo stood there, comprehending everything that had happened that day. The question Ryu had asked back in the cave reverberated around their minds-"Did we do the right thing?"

End of Chapter 4


	6. Chapter 5: Time in Between-Part 1

A/N: I gotta thank Ash for this idea

A/N: I said I would be making a few changes, right? Well, here's the first of 'em. Like I said, though, I won't change the story, I'll put in some parts that were left out and try as hard as I can not to have them interfere with the story. I gotta thank Ash for this idea. So, without further ado…

Time in Between-Part 1

The goddess scowled as she watched two young boys, transformed into Whelp Dragons, take out her troops. The boys, Ryu and Teepo, had been fighting her armies for quite a while, and they were overtaking them alone.

"Goddess, it seems as if one of them is the destined one," said a deep voice. The goddess turned to see a large gargoyle-like creature with enormous bat-like wings.

"What do you mean, Garr?" she inquired.

"The Destined One of the Brood," answered Garr. "The third Destined, to be exact. Each Destined One fought a war against the gods, and each time they triumphed."

"Hmmm…" The goddess stroked her chin thoughtfully as she turned her head towards the scene of destruction Ryu and Teepo were making. "So Ryu or Teepo here may be the one to overthrow my rule?"

"Yes," said Garr.

The goddess watched them take out another line of Guardians. "Very well. Garr, see to it that they don't. Failing that, seal them away."

"As you command, Goddess." Garr bowed to her, then flapped his wings and took off.

"AH!"

Ryu sat up in bed with a cry, clutching his head.

It had happened again. That was the fifth time this month he had had that dream.

_Why?_ he asked himself. _Why am I having these dreams? Why do they refer to me and Teepo?_

He shook his head, letting his arms drop limply to his sides. _It's too much to comprehend,_ he thought. _There's gotta be some meaning to it._

After lying in bed for another half hour or so, he realized he couldn't sleep. He threw off the white covers and tenderly slipped off the bed.

Then, he realized that Teepo wasn't in his bed.

He raised an eyebrow. There was another coincidence going on-every time Ryu had that dream, Teepo disappeared from his bed. Each time he was found outside, looking at the stars, but it seemed…strange that every time he did that Ryu had that dream.

Ryu sighed, walking over to the door on the upper floor of the cabin. He looked at Rei's bed before opening it-the human-tiger hybrid was still snoring away.

Slowly, Ryu creaked open the door. And sure enough, Teepo was sitting on the logs making up the walkway around the cabin, peering up at the stars.

"Teeps?" Ryu whispered.

Teepo jerked and almost fell off the logs. "Hey, do you have to interrupt me every time I'm looking at the stars?"

"You're not just looking at the stars," Ryu whispered. "You're thinking, aren't you?"

"Well…" Teepo shifted his position, reclining on the logs. "Yeah, I'm thinking. Why?"

"About what?" Ryu asked.

"Uh…none of your business?" Teepo replied pathetically.

Ryu rolled his eyes. "That's not good enough. C'mon, you can tell me."

Teepo shrugged. "All right, all right. I've been having this weird dream lately…"  
  
Ryu's eyes widened. _Same dream, or different?_ he wondered.

Teepo answered the unspoken question. "It's about…this…uh, goddess, I guess. She was watching two…dragons, I think, fighting a battle…and she ordered this big, gargoyle-looking creature to seal them…and they called the dragons Ryu and Teepo."

Ryu almost fell flat on his face, but he recovered. "Wait a minute…"

"Yeah?"

"That's the exact same dream I've been having."

Teepo jerked again, and this time he _did_ fall off the logs. Ryu laughed wildly as he struggled to climb back up. Finally, Teepo gave up and ran up the walkway back to where he was sitting. Ryu was still laughing when Teepo reappeared on the balcony, his face red with embarrassment.

"That was uncalled for," Teepo snapped.

"Sorry."  
  
Teepo accepted the apology and reclined on the _floor_ of the balcony this time-he wasn't going to risk falling off again.

"So, are you serious?" Teepo asked. "You've been having the same dream?"

"Uh-huh," Ryu mumbled, nodding his head. "But why? What did we ever do to that goddess?"

Teepo looked at Ryu oddly. "You think that what happened in the dream was real?" he asked.

"Yeah," Ryu answered, nodding again.

Teepo smiled. "Come on, it's just a bunch of baloney. Some strange nightmare."

Ryu shrugged. "It may be, but I still can't shake off that feeling."

"Ah, don't worry," Teepo said. "'Sides, if anything bad does happen, we got each other. And Rei."

Ryu smiled. "Yeah…like brothers."

"Brothers?" Teepo was about to say more, but then he stopped. "Hey, you know…I kinda like that."

"What, that we're like brothers?" Ryu asked.

"Yep. Not bad at all."

Ryu smiled and nodded. "Yeah. We'll protect each other, like brothers should."

Teepo grinned. _Protect each other…yeah, we really need that._

The two brothers gave each other the high-five. There was no more talk for the rest of the evening, and they knew that everything would be all right.

A/N: Sorry it took so long, Jason. And Ash, I am very sorry that I didn't put in the plot twist I told you I would. Maybe I should do another chapter of Time in Between before doing the next one. What do you guys think?


	7. Chapter 6: Unexpected Results

Chapter 6-Unexpected Results

Chapter 6-Unexpected Results 

A/N: All right, I received two reviews telling me to go on with the story, so that is exactly what I shall do. Just be forewarned, I'll be putting more unexplained parts of the game in later in this story. So, without more delay, Chapter 6!

It was the first day of spring. Birds flew around, whistling happily, and frogs croaked in the pond. It was peaceful in the Cedar Woods…until a certain person got frustrated.

"Dammit! Not again!"

A pack of wolves scurried away from the tree they were doing their business on. They had been scared away when a large bag dropped from the tree.

Rei leaped down, cursing. "Why doesn't the f**king bag stay on the branch?" He looked up to see that the branch the bag had been sitting on had snapped.

"Note to self: Don't load up bag with too much food and set in on a branch." He sighed. "Don't this just beat all."

Rei grabbed the bag and slung it over his shoulder. _Suppose I'll have to make do. Teepo ain't gonna be happy, though._ He sighed again.

He started walking in the direction on his cabin, muttering, "Don't this just beat all" continuously.

_ _

_SLAM!_

Rei kicked open the door to his cabin.

"Did you get anything new this time, Rei?" Ryu yawned as he walked downstairs in response to the slamming door.

"Nope. Just some more apples." Rei swung the bag onto the table. "And a few berries. Again."

Teepo moaned as he staggered down the stairs. "Jeez, doesn't anything else grow around here?"

"No," Rei answered. "All the good stuff's grown down in the village. And the animals seem to be getting smarter." He deliberately left out the part about the bag being dropped out of the tree.

The trio had a breakfast of…well, apples and berries. After the meal, everyone tossed their plates outside to feed the birds.

"Hey, wait," Teepo suddenly said. "Speaking of the village, we haven't gone down there since we defeated the Nue. Anybody else wanna check out how they're doing?"

Rei rolled his eyes. "I am not going to risk getting hit by pots and pans again. Those really hurt."

"Maybe they'll give us some decent food."

That did it. Rei suddenly started panting like a tired dog and started chanting "Food. Food. Food. Food."

He got a major laugh out of Ryu for that.

"C'mon, what're we waiting for? Let's go!" Teepo zoomed out the door, nabbing his katana on the way out.

Ryu and Rei looked at the small dust clouds that had replaced Teepo.

Rei shrugged. "What the heck. We've got nothing better to do."

"Yeah." Ryu picked up his short sword and walked out the door, followed by Rei.

Ryu held his breath as he walked through the town gates, expecting, as Rei had said, to be hit by pots and pans. But the only being he saw was Teepo, standing in the village square, looking disappointed.

"Where is everyone?" Teepo complained.

Rei sighed. "I don't see why you're so disappointed. Last time they saw us they resorted to using guns. Why are you so eager to-"

"Guys."

Rei and Teepo turned and looked at Ryu. His face was completely pale.

"What's wrong?" Rei asked.

Ryu gulped and pointed in front of him.

Rei looked up and almost passed out at the sight.

Standing in front of them was the entire population of the village.

Teepo's jaw dropped. _Oh, man, we are in deep trouble,_ he thought.

One of the villagers stepped forward. "Are you the three boys who killed the monster?"

Ryu slowly nodded, wondering if that was his death sentence.

But then the villagers did something completely unexpected…they started _cheering._

Rei's jaw dropped down to his knees.

"Thank you so much!" the man who spoke cried, shaking each of their hands in turn. "Thanks to you the harvest went perfectly! We all have more than enough food now!"

Ryu was in shock. _Now this is making me wonder why we didn't go down here before._

"You never have to steal anything anymore now!" an old woman said happily. "You only need to ask!"

And before the trio knew it, the cheering villagers swept them off their feet.

Ryu looked around, grinning. _Now this is more like it! _he thought.

Later, after everyone had calmed down and gone home, Ryu, Rei, and Teepo stood in the center of the town.

"Now _that_ was a surprise, don't ya think?" Rei said. "Nice to actually get some respect around here."

"You said it," Teepo said.

"Psst. Hey, you three."

Ryu whirled around to see a man looking at them. They couldn't see his features, because he was wearing a long greenish-blue cloak.

"So. It seems as if you three are the town's heroes," the man whispered hoarsely.

"Your point?" Teepo asked. "We knew that. What are you saying?"

If the man's face were visible, he probably would've smiled. "I am Loki. Since you are the town's heroes, I have a…request."

"Request? What request?" Rei inquired.

Ryu was starting to not like this guy. _I don't like that hesitation before he said "request," _he thought. _There's something not to trust about him…_

"I shall fill you in later. If you choose to accept this request," Loki whispered. "Meet me at the shed down the road at midnight tonight. You either show up or you don't." With that, Loki swirled his cloak around and walked away, towards the village gate.

Ryu, Teepo, and Rei looked down the road for a long time. Finally, Teepo broke the silence. "What do you think? Accept, or no?"

"No," Ryu said immediately. "I don't trust that guy. There's something odd about him."

Rei looked at Ryu curiously. "What is it?"

"There's…just some…I don't know how to explain it, it's just…there's this bad aura surrounding him. I don't know, I think we shouldn't trust him."

Teepo snorted. "Since when were you our decision maker, Ryu? I say we go for it!"

"You're always up for a challenge," Ryu shot back. "But what if Loki wants us to commit a crime for his sake? Something that turns the townspeople against us again? Guys, I really think we shouldn't accept!"

This was the first time-at least as far back as he could remember-that Ryu heard a desperate tone in his own voice.

Teepo raised an eyebrow. He had noticed the desperate tone too. "Rei?" He asked the oldest of them. "What do you think?"

Rei scratched his chin. "I dunno…maybe we could just go to see what he wants us to do. If it's a bad thing, we'll decline. How about that?"

Ryu and Teepo nodded.

"I still think he wants us to commit a crime," Ryu muttered. _I have a really bad feeling about this…_

At exactly midnight that night, a cloak-clad figure opened the door to the shed. He grinned when he saw the two small boys and the tall one with the tail sitting in there.

"Good, you decided to come," Loki said. "Since you have come, I shall tell you what I want you to do."

Rei nodded. "But I'm warning you, pal, if we don't like what you want us to do, then we're out of here. Got that?"

Loki's hood nodded up and down. "Yes. I have that."

"Then what is it?" Teepo asked.

"You are…to infiltrate McNeil's manor."

"What?!" Ryu yelped in surprised. McNeil was the town's mayor. This sounded almost for _sure_ it was a crime!

"It is not for criminal purposes," Loki whispered, almost as if he had read Ryu's mind. "You know how McNeil are taxing the people unfairly, yes?"

"Uh-huh," Teepo nodded warily.

"I want you to infiltrate McNeil's manor and steal back the taxed money, and return them to the people of the village," Loki said. "It should be easy, considering how you have continuously stolen from the townspeople."

"Hey, those days are over," said Rei.

"Yes. I know," Loki said. "But surely your thieving skills have not gone to waste. Apply them to this situation. I urge you, accept this request! If you do, the townspeople are likely to be very grateful."

Rei smiled and nodded. "All right then. We'll do it."

Teepo nodded vigorously, signifying that he accepted.

Ryu nodded slowly, reluctantly. _I still don't trust him…and just like I thought, we'll be breaking the law…but Rei and Teepo are going along, and someone's gotta watch their backs._

"Good!" Loki said, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "Very well then. You should start right now. This is a perfect time, as most people are likely to be asleep. I advise you to watch out for the guards, however."

"We'll be fine," Rei assured him.

"Very good." Loki turned around, his cloak swishing behind him. "I bid you farewell, and good luck." With that, Loki left the shed, the dark color of his cloak disappearing into the night.

The three boys stared after him. And again, Teepo broke the silence.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Teepo scooted out of the shed, followed by Rei.

Ryu hung back for a moment. _Alright, here we go…may god have mercy on us._ After the quick prayer, he grabbed the handle of his short sword and followed Rei and Teepo's tracks.

End of Chapter 6 


End file.
